Shibden Hall

In order to get primary research for my essay on the link between advertising and homosexual identity, I visited Shibden Hall in Halifax in order to learn more about Anne Lister.

I found it really intriguing because I hadn't previously known that Lister had written her diary entries in code which really reinforces the idea that homosexuality was severely frowned upon. I also learnt about the degrading term 'Gentleman Jack' when describing Lister which also shows how poorly homosexuals got treated.

I think it is interesting to compare how Lister got treated to how homosexuals are treated today. Whilst homosexuality is no longer illegal, there are still similar issues prominent today. For example, the term 'Gentleman Jack' refers to the stereotype that lesbians tend to be masculine/butch, and yet this stereotype is still thought by some people today. It shows how far we need to go in order to reach equality and diminish these hurtful images.

Panopticism

This was a really interesting lecture about the theory of how power works in society. The architectural structure is a metaphor for hierarchy, such as class, race and gender. Interestingly, later on, a prison was actually built based on this theory.

The theory is based around controlling people without using restraints and prison bars. The design is very interesting – people are put in cells where they can’t see anyone in the other cells. They can’t even see any wardens or guards – all they can see is a watch tower in the centre. Although they don’t know who is watching them, or if they are even being watched, they have to accept that there is the possibility that they are being watched all the time. This impacts them tremendously as it means they start to watch their own actions as they are more conscious of what they are doing. Therefore, it is suggested that no guards are even needed, because as long as the prisoners believe that there is the possibility of being watched, they will behave correctly. This surveillance can be linked to today’s social media, where the public and private line are blurred. Many advertising campaigns now use social media platforms, for example Facebook. Facebook is a strong link to Panopticism because just as the prisoners are on display to the guards, the guards are never seen. Our information is available to Facebook, but Facebook itself is invisible to us. This can be further linked to advertising as many adverts on the internet are targeted. If I was to search for a jacket on the internet, then Facebook would provide me with clothing adverts. The internet has a lot of information on us, but again, we have nothing on the Internet.

I thought the comparison with Ancient Greece was very interesting. The Ancient Greeks lived in a very communal society e.g.  everyone went to the theatre together. This doesn’t really happen in our modern society as everyone lives in separate homes. Therefore, Panopticism works best with modern societies, rather than Ancient Greece, as the theory makes it easier to influence people who isolate themselves.

Another link with advertising is the idea that the building structure makes it possible to observe symptoms of people without beds and clinics. This could be compared to market research in advertising, as people have to research and analyse people’s actions and opinions in order to market a product correctly. The groups that are being targeted don’t receive a lot of information from the researchers, however the researchers learn a lot from the groups.

I think Panopticism does link to my essay as it talks about how the individual is fabricated due to the state having so much power. This links with the individual as identity makes us what we are. However, we are born in power systems/social structure that limits our identities. Our identities have been unknowingly fabricated. As my essay is on homosexual identity in advertising, Panopticism is an interesting theory to discuss, because it can be argued that homosexuals have a limited identity in society which is reflected in advertising.

Zygmunt Bauman: Identity

In class we had a seminar on identity, looking at Zygmunt Bauman’s views on the subject.

Bauman believed that identity was fluid as it is for wearing and showing, not storing and keeping, due to its naturally changing state. Even if we wanted to, we can’t stick to one identity. I think this is a really interesting point as a lot of people are intolerant and ignorant of different identities, such as transgender people and gender fluid identities.

I also found Bauman’s point on the negative side of the increase in technological networks very insightful. Bauman argued that it replaces community, kinship, friends and intimacy. He said that we lose the ability to interact with real people, face-to-face. People can now plan conversations as there is no need to immediately reply. However, whilst I agree that face-to-face networks are more vital than online ones,  I think Bauman overlooked the positives of online networks. For example, if someone is on the train and they’re on the phone, most likely they are communicating with other people via social networks or text messaging. In this scenario, the person is being more social as without that technology, they wouldn’t be able to communicate with that person at all. This person may still see their friends face-to-face, but also online. If anything, it doesn’t replace community but widens the scope community can reach.           

The seminar linked with advertising as identity is constantly being affected by advertising, positively and negatively. For example, the ‘Other Stories’ advertising campaign impacted transgender identities positively as it only featured transgender models and all the directors/producers etc were transgender. This is a massive step forward in the LGBT movement and is the first campaign I have ever personally heard of that have done this.    

Bibliography:

 ‘Identity’ by Zygmunt Bauman: handout in class

‘Absolute advertising, ground zero advertising’

‘Simulcra and Simulation’ by Jean Baudrillard was a very insightful read, however there were some points that I found particularly intriguing.

‘ADVERTISING IS NO LONGER A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION OR OF INFORMATION’ –Jean Baudrillard

Baudrillard believes that advertising is superficial, with no depth to it and is easily forgotten. He argues that whilst people still believe in it/ have not accepted it as a routine, it is losing its effect due to ‘the languages of computer science’. He argues that due to the mass advertising that is present in every area of our society,  its effect is diminished.

Baudrillard uses Las Vegas as an example. Las Vegas is known for its advertising, with its billboards lighting up the city at night. He states that ‘advertising is not what brightens or decorates the walls, it is what effaces the walls, effaces the streets, the facades and all the architecture’. He claims that this advertising makes life staged and a hyper-reality (‘hyperreal euphoria’).

Bibliography:

‘Simulcra and Simulation’ by Jean Baudrillard: hand-out in class

Lecture 12: Representation

Culture can be used to describe the values of a group and Stuart Hall was particularly interested in how things are communicated in different cultures.

I found it really interesting how perspectives depend on culture, meaning that the way we perceive things is learned, not inherited, and therefore depends on what social group you belong to. For example, these two drawings of an elephant was perceived differently by particular cultural groups. The split elephant drawing was generally preferred by African children and adults.

International representation means there is a different underlying message. For example, this image shows someone drinking coke but the intention is to get people to buy coke. International representation is used a lot in advertising as the main function of advertising is to increase profits and get customers to buy the product/service.

Documental photography is a representational medium as it records the reconstruction of the everyday, e.g. Henri Cartier who was a 20^th Century street photographer. His work helped bring meaning back to France after the war, which shows photography isn’t just a mirror of life.

It is interesting to discuss how much truth black and white photography actually embodies. Whatever we photograph was lived in colour, not black and white. Black and white can often be seen as false/story/not as real, e.g. Holocaust pictures were not allowed to be produced in colour due to complaints that they were too ‘real’ (Yad Vashem museum).  According to Readex Research, when this advert for Airgas was run in colour, 33% of readers claimed to remember it, suggesting that colour has a positive impact in advertising. However, some may argue that black and white advertising, especially on television, makes it more serious, dramatic and memorable.

References:

-Lecture

-http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-at-cagny-kent-discusses-plan-to-revitalize-growth-in-2014

-http://www.simplypsychology.org/perceptual-set.html

-http://www.readexresearch.com/ad-effectiveness-color-2012/